Joaquin Phoenix a perfectionist in recording studio

Lars Brandle

2 Min Read

<p>Actor Joaquin Phoenix poses at the premiere of his film "Reservation Road" in Beverly Hills, California October 18, 2007. REUTERS/Fred Prouser</p>

LONDON (Billboard) - Actor Joaquin Phoenix, who played Johnny Cash on the big screen, is cutting an album with Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess, Billboard.com has learned. But whether the set will be released remains unclear.

According to U.K.-born Burgess, who has lived in Los Angeles for several years, the album came about after Phoenix learned to play guitar in preparation for his role in the 2005 film “Walk the Line,” for which he received an Academy Award nomination.

“Once he learned guitar, he found that he had quite a lot of demons inside himself that he wanted to expel through music,” says Burgess, who has been mixing the record alongside Alan McGee, the Charlatans’ manager and former head of U.K. independent label Creation Records.

But it seems that the perfectionism that has brought Phoenix acclaim as an actor could prevent the record from ever seeing the light of day.

“All the tracks that me and Alan worked with him on were brilliant,” says Burgess. “But I think he just keeps scrapping everything or redoing everything. I‘m sad to say that I think it’s one of those records that may never come out, to be honest with you.”

“It’s an ongoing thing,” he continues. “I‘m trying to get Alan to force him to put it out at the moment, but I don’t know whether it will (get released).”